You worry about your heart, your weight, and your cancer risk, but what about your eyes? Ongoing eye research is investigating advances in eye care to prevent vision loss and eye injury.

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With so much emphasis on exercising more and eating well to prevent cancer, diabetes, and other diseases we sometimes forget about the importance of proper eye care. From cataracts to macular degeneration, certain eye conditions can steal our vision.

"A wide variety of diseases can lead to permanent or irreversible vision loss," says Franco Recchia, MD, director of the Vanderbilt fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. "As our population grows and ages, these are becoming more of an issue."

Diabetes, for instance, is a growing epidemic, and a major complication of diabetes is diabetic retinopathy — the most significant cause of visual impairment among working-age people, says Dr. Recchia.

Ongoing eye research continues to look for better forms of eye care and ways to preserve healthy eyes.

Eye Research Into Macular Degeneration

Current research is focused on finding better ways to prevent or treat the most significant threats to vision and healthy eyes.

"The main focus of research in the last 10 years, and probably the most significant advances, involve the condition called age-related macular degeneration [AMD]," says Recchia. There are roughly 200,000 new cases of macular degeneration each year in the United States.

The last five years have seen advances in drug therapies, including eye injections, to treat wet macular degeneration, the type that results in bleeding in the eye due to an abnormal growth of blood vessels. These discoveries have also been applied to treating diabetic retinopathy and other diseases affecting the retina, says Recchia.

Eye research is also examining ways to slow down the progression of dry macular degeneration, which can also result in vision loss. Approaches being studied include vitamin supplements, dietary changes, and quitting smoking.

Researchers at Vanderbilt identified genes that predispose people to develop macular degeneration, says Recchia. This information may help doctors better tailor treatment for individual patients.

Focusing on Diet and Healthy Eyes

Omega-3 fatty acids are well known for their heart-health benefits. New research has found that they may play a role in eye health as well. A study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute suggests that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help delay the progression of AMD. This study is particularly important because diet is one factor people have control over, says Bonnielin Swenor, MPH, one of the study researchers.

"While current research indicates that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of late AMD in some patients, more research is still necessary," Swenor says. "AMD patients should fully discuss dietary options with their ophthalmologist."

Another study, this one done by the University of Wisconsin at Madison, examined the impact of a healthy diet on the risk of developing cataracts in women. Cataracts are very common as people age and can lead to blindness. Researchers found that women who ate a diet closest to the U.S. government’s1990 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were less likely to develop cataracts than those who did not follow the guidelines as closely.

James Salz, MD, a clinical correspondent with the American Academy of Ophthalmology, clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Southern California, and attending ophthalmic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, stresses that eating a good diet doesn't mean you won't develop cataracts, just that your risk is lower. The take-home message, says Dr. Salz, is that we should all eat a healthy diet, not just for reduced cataract risk, but also for all the health benefits that good nutrition provides.

Preventing Eye Injury With Laser Damage Awareness

One case study in the United Kingdom investigated eye damage caused by a high-powered laser pointer of the type that are sold illegally on the Internet and are sometimes marketed as toys. A teenager had aimed the laser pointer directly at his own eyes while playing with it and suffered burns and other damage to the eye and the retina, affecting his vision.

The UK researchers stress the need for awareness about the potential dangers of laser pointers as they become more and more available, and for people to understand that they can cause long-term injury to the eyes and even loss of vision. In 2010, the American Academy of Ophthalmology issued a warning to consumers about the dangers of these high-powered devices and alerting parents to the harm they can cause. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits the energy output of laser pointers to 5 milliwatts.

Eye Research: Future Vision

A number of other studies are looking at how eye diseases affect people in different populations, says John Irvine, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles. Researchers hope to determine whether genetic influences play a significant role in the amounts of eye disease in these groups, says Dr. Irvine.

Other research at USC includes a project to develop a prosthetic retina. "This device shows promise for restoration of vision in patients who have lost their vision to certain types of disease like retinitis pigmentosa," says Irvine. There's also research to develop better methods for corneal transplants, he adds.

Eye research is an important part of medical research because vision loss is a public health issue. As patients live longer, they face more conditions that can lead to becoming legally blind. There is, says Recchia, "a huge demand to try to conquer these diseases."

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